The Shadow Self
by fortheloveofcheesecake
Summary: After avenging the death of Gwen Stacey, Peter Parker attempts to move on by going to college in New York City and putting Spider-Man in his past. However, a few weeks after Spider-Man's "disappearance", Spider-Man reappears in a black suit. Only, it's not Peter Parker, and he takes up the suit to find out more about the new hero in town... known simply as "The Doppelganger".
1. Prologue: The Night Gwen Stacy Died

**Prologue: The Night Gwen Stacy Died**

If you want to know what death will be like, ask someone who has a panic disorder.

Or ask Peter Parker.

Ask him what it feels like to wake up from his nightmares that feel so real that he forgets how to breathe while his eyes search the room for someone to reach out and yank him back into reality – no matter how painful his reality might be.

Ask him about the time he allowed himself to hope against all hopes when he walked into his Introduction to Advanced Mathematics class on the first day of university and saw a girl with too similar a shade of blond hair sitting in the front row. But then, ask him about the sudden weight in his stomach as he forced his feet to take him to the empty seat beside her where he sat without hearing a word for the next hour and fifteen minutes of his life.

Or maybe you want to hear about the notification his phone sent the morning Gwen would be turning 19.

Only she didn't and she wouldn't.

* * *

Peter walked amongst the tombstones alone, holding Gwen's favorite flowers in his left hand and his unfinished homework in his right hand. The nearby street was quiet, save for the empty bus making its rounds downtown. It was six o'clock in the morning and approaching seven. Few lights lit the cemetery. But he had memorized the path to Gwen's resting place within the first week following her death.

"Hey Gwen," he spoke as he approached and his throat caught on her name. Trying again, he cleared his throat. "Happy birthday. I brought you flowers – not crushed ones from my bookbag this time. Maybe I can try and bake a cake later. We know how well that went last time!"

He chuckled lightly and ran his fingers through his dark, brown hair. "You know, usually that's the part where you'd laugh."

"If the dead laugh back, you should really run far, far away," a girl's voice chimed in from behind Peter and he whirled around, almost falling backwards onto Gwen's headstone. But a pair of hands reached out and grabbed his jacket, yanking him upright…

But his momentum sent him hurtling on top of his would-be-savior, who immediately shoved him away with a high pitched yelp of surprise.

Peter leapt to his feet and looked down at the petite girl, who was sprawled out on the ground in the pale, morning light. She cocked her head to one side and furrowed her brow before shaking her head and sighing… still content lying in the grass and looking up at him.

"Sorry," she finally sputtered out as she attempted to stumble her way to her feet. She graciously accepted Peter's outstretched hand who had yet to reply. "I'm sorry," she said again as she wiped the grass off the butt of her worn jeans. "My dad always said it was rude to sneak up on people. I just – didn't expect to see anyone else here this early in the morning."

The tall, lanky boy squinted his eyes as the sun began to rise on the horizon.

"Not much for words?" the girl continued to ramble on. "Well, maybe you would talk if I hadn't just crept up on you like a serial killer – not that I'm a serial killer. I'm totally not a serial killer. I just – sorry."

"You keep saying that word," Peter finally commented as his brained tried to process the odd girl in front of him.

"Sorry, I – sorry." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "Can we try this again?" Peter motioned for him to go on. "I'm Hannah Morgenstern. You're Peter, right?"

"How did you…?"

"I work for The Daily Bugle. You are the one who took those really awesome pictures of Spider-Man for the paper."

His shoulder's tensed at the mention of Spider-Man, but she failed to notice.

"Anyways," she took a deep breath and then seemed to notice how loudly she was talking and that Peter had yet to say more than a few words. "I was just surprised to see anyone else out here this early in the morning. It seems that this is the only time that I can visit in peace… which is probably why you are here too. So, I will let you get back to talking to…" She trailed off and took in the name engraved on the tombstone. "Gwen."

She paused and smiled, brushing a strand of her dirty blond hair behind her ear. "Gwen is a really pretty name. She was always really nice when she stopped by The Bar. I was sad to hear about her passing. The world could use more people like her. Like her and Spider-Man. There are enough Green Goblins in the world."

"Well, the Green Goblin isn't a problem anymore." Peter rocked back and forth on his heels and then noticed that the flowers he'd brought were scattered on the ground. He stooped down to pick them up and Hannah leaned down to help. "And it's not like the city needs Spider-Man."

Hannah jolted back to her feet. "Are you kidding me? It's been three weeks since the last sighting of Spider-Man and the amount of crime has risen like crazy! It's not that Spider-Man can stop every little crime that happens, but he at least keeps the criminals on edge around here."

She carefully removed the flowers from Peter's hands and started neatly placing them by Gwen's headstone. "We've been so busy Mr. Jameson actually had me writing some of the obituaries." Her shoulders slumped at the words.

The small girl gently wiped the dirt away from Gwen's name. From her crouching position, she looked up at Peter with sad eyes that threatened tears. The moment passed and she popped up to her feet, clearing her throat and wiping at her eyes. "Sorry," she muttered another apology and then offered a smile. "But if Spider-Man isn't around the save the day… it's only a matter of time before someone else steps up – and that could be a good thing or a bad thing. We'll just have to wait and see."

She tottered off down the dirt path and paused a few yards away. "But I'm serious about one thing," she called back over her shoulder. "Run if the dead start talking."

He waved. "I'll try and keep that in mind."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thank you for taking the time to read this! I'm really excited about this story and its characters. It is not going to follow any particular arc from the comics or from the movies. However, you will be seeing some familiar characters. :) I'll post some of the face claims I have in mind if y'all are interested. Thank you again for reading.

-cheesecake


	2. Chapter 1: And Death Shall Come!

**Author's Note:** Here's Chapter 2! Check out the note at the end for some notes on who I would cast for these different characters. :) Thanks for checking out my story! Also, fun fact... all chapter titles are the titles of an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comics! -Cheesecake

* * *

 **Chapter 1: And Death Shall Come!**

Peter woke up to the sound of sirens wailing in the streets, horns blasting as emergency vehicles rushed past his window.

"Peter?" his aunt's voice called from the hallway.

He groaned and rolled out of bed, almost tripping over his clothes from the previous day, before he pulled on a t-shirt and trudged down the hallway. "Aunt May?" his sleep-blurred vision picked up the outline of his aunt standing in the kitchen with her nightgown hanging on her frail form.

She'd lost a lot of weight since his uncle's death and with the amount of time she spent worrying about Peter since Gwen's death didn't help. Peter's decision to be a commuter was only reinforced by her fragile state.

Her silver hair glowed in the moonlight as she peered out the window of their small rental home. "Peter, darling," she pressed her face closer to the glass and hummed sadly. "It looks like something is happening down the street. There's an ambulance and everything out there."

He slid on his pair of tennis shoes that were thrown haphazardly on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Grunting, he ignored the fact that he didn't have socks on and that his shirt probably didn't match his shorts. That didn't matter – what did matter was the smell of smoke and the thick hazy that was beginning to engulf the street.

"Stay inside! I'll go see if they need help." Peter ran out the door without waiting for his aunt to respond, ducking his head he ran down the street where he could see firefighters straining to fight the raging fire and shouting out commands to the police officers that had arrived to help secure the scene.

"Hey kid! Get out of here!" a police officer hollered; but then the officer shoved past Peter to a girl who was screaming and trying to force her way past the police barrier.

"No!" the girl screamed and kicked at the officer, trying to fight her way through toward the fire that the firefighters had finally managed to get under control.

It took Peter a moment to recognize Hannah Morgenstern in the smoky haze caused by the apartment fire. Her blond hair whipped through the air as she struggled against the officer. "No! Terri! Terri's in there!" she bawled, unaware of Peter's approach until he gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the officer. She didn't even acknowledge him as she continued to cry out.

"Hannah!" Peter shouted, shaking her shoulders lightly and tilted her face so that their eyes met. "Hannah, it's me – Peter Parker. What's going on?"

Her eyes blinked in confusion and then recognition before she threw herself into his arms and sobbed. She became like deadweight in his arms and Peter carefully helped her sit on the sidewalk as the last of the flames were put out. "Terri," she choked out. "Terri was in there." She gripped his shirt in her trembling hands as she buried her head in his shoulder, her tears quickly soaking his old shirt from high school.

Her chest shuddered as she tried to get her breath under control.

"Hey." Peter broke their embrace and scooted away to give her room. "Listen, I'm sure that she's alright. The firemen will find her and make sure she's okay."

Hannah shook her head and looked up at him, tears staining her paled face in the early morning light. "She was in there. She – she called me and told me to come over because she needed to talk about something important."

A pair of firefighters helped two college aged guys down the fire escape from the second story window.

Hannah leapt to her feet and stood against the police barrier, eyes frantically searching for her friend's face. But no one else exited the building.

Instead, one of the firemen walked up to the group of police officers and began motioning toward the first floor of the apartment until two of the officers withdrew their guns and cautiously approached the front door of the apartment.

A series of barked commands could be faintly heard from inside the building and then the cops exited – one of them motioning for another police officer to join him inside, while the other officer made a call on his radio and then began issuing commands to the other emergency responders on the scene.

The two college students from the second story were visibly shaken as a paramedic tended to the large gash on the forehead of one of the dark-skinned boys.

"What's going on?" Hannah shouted at the nearest police officer.

"This is a crime scene," he replied as he approached the barrier and pulled out a notepad. "I'm going to need to take your statement on anything that you might know related to the death of Terri Kidder."

"No," Hannah moaned and shuffled backwards, tripping on her feet and almost falling to the ground were it not for Peter who had sprung to his feet and snuck up behind her. "No no no no no. She can't be – I was just – Terri was – I…" Her words slurred together and she turned to run, only to find her path blocked by Peter Parker who put a hand on her shoulder.

"Tell the officer what you know. Is there anyone I can call for you?"

"My – uh…" she trailed off and furrowed her brow and scrambled to dig her phone out of her pocket before she handed it to Peter. "Um, call John. Call Mr. Jameson."

"Your boss?" Peter stuttered. "Why would you call him?"

"Just call him." Hannah crossed her arms to hug herself and turned back to the police officer who had sweat dripping down his face in his black uniform that seemed to be just a size too small.

Peter let out a long sigh as he backed away from the barrier and looked down at the clunky phone his hand. (Its fanciest feature was the fact that it had a slide-out keyboard. Besides that… all the phone could do was call and text.)

His shirt clung to his sweaty body and he coughed as he tried to move further away from the slowly dispersing smoke. How was he going to explain this one to J. Jonah Jameson, the hard knock publisher for _The Daily Bugle_ who made a habit of ripping Peter off for his freelance pictures of Spider-Man in the days before hanging up the costume? His thumb hovered over the call button once he had located the man's name; finally, he thought screw it and hit the call button, listening to the phone ring before a click signaled that Jameson had answered, right before his booming voice tore through the phone's speaker.

"Hannah Morgenstern! I swear, this had better be an emergency, because you know I do not appreciate being woken up any earlier than necessary." His voice was angry but lacked a bit of the usual bite that accompanied it.

"This is Peter. Peter Parker. Hannah wanted me to call you."

"Peter Parker," Jameson spat the name out. "And why are you with Miss Morgenstern?"

"There was a fire down the street and Hannah was there. Her friend, Terri, was inside and she didn't make it out."

A slew of curses poured out of the man's mouth before he finally said, "I'll be there in ten minutes. Make sure Hannah doesn't attempt to wander off before I get there."

"Yes sir."

* * *

While Hannah talked to the police officer, Peter could do nothing but twiddle his thumbs… and try to eavesdrop on the police officers that had been going in and out of the apartment while the rest of the officers kept a close eye on the newscast that had arrived on the scene to report for the local news in New York City. Not for the first time, he wished that super hearing went along with the whole Spider-man gig – not that he wanted to be rendered blind like his friend Matt Murdock.

Since they'd let him stand inside the barrier while Hannah was questioned, he managed to pick up on a few key words, but one stood out above them all: "suicide". He sucked in a sharp breath at the word and looked over at the short blond who was kicking at stray rocks on the road as her eyes were glued to her tattered tennis shoes.

Her t-shirt looked to be a size too big and the jeans she wore were ripped at the knees, but Peter could tell it wasn't a pair of those pre-ripped jeans from the nicer clothing stores. His sharp vision could make out the vacant look in her soft brown eyes when those eyes finally looked up and locked with his own.

The officer seemed to mutter condolences before walking to where a group of officers were comparing notes from the small group of witnesses in the area.

Peter ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and walked up to Hannah, unsure of what to say.

She sniffed as a stray tear fell down her face and she hugged herself even tighter when she saw a body bag being carried out on a gurney.

She froze.

And then she bolted.

Hannah tried to fight toward Terri's body, but Peter would always be quicker, wrapping his arms and spinning her in the opposite direction before dragging her past the police barriers and past the film crew that was trying to thrust cameras and microphones in their faces.

He may have webbed one particularly persistent reporter's feet to the ground, but no one could prove that.

"There's John." She nodded at the car that's horn was blaring at anyone who dared to get in the way of it. She bit her lip as a new bout of tears threatened to fall. Hannah made to move toward the car, but Peter grabbed her hand so that she whirled around.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He allowed a slight smile to cross his face as he waved the phone in front of hers. "I put my number in it. Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all."

She smiled faintly and muttered her thanks before getting into J. Jonah Jameson's car.

The publisher scowled at Peter, but he did give a slight nod of thanks before he peeled down the closest street away from the crowd.

* * *

The next day's featured article from _The Daily Bugle_ read "CITY MOURNS THE SUICIDE OF TERRI KIDDER, REPORTER FOR ".

Aunt May shook her head as she handed the paper over to Peter who scratched the back of his neck as he glanced over the article which detailed the apartment fire which had started in Terri Kidder's kitchen after she had hung herself in her closet. The picture of the crime scene showed the grief-stricken Hannah talking to the officer and Peter dropped the paper down before shoving it back in Aunt May's direction.

"See? This is why I don't want to work for them. Mr. Jameson is just using this tragedy to further his own company. As if he even liked Terri… I remember the few times I talked to Terri how she always complained about how misogynistic that guy is."

"But Peter," Aunt May sighed as she stood up to put away the dishes from the morning's breakfast. "Your pictures were always so good. It's a shame that you put away your camera. Your uncle and I were always so proud of your work."

"All they wanted were my pictures of Spider-Man at that place anyways," Peter countered. "And that vigilante is what got Gwen killed!" His voice had risen in volume as he stood from his chair.

He took a deep breath and sat back down. "I'm sorry, Aunt May. I just can't go back to it right now. Maybe for the right reasons I would. But not right now."

Aunt May reached across the table and patted his hands with hers. "You just take care of yourself Peter. I know it has been tough on you, but I am so proud of all of the hard work you've put in during your first month of college. Your uncle would be proud."

She paused before continuing softly, "And Gwen would be proud too."

* * *

 **Author's** **Note:** As promised, here is the cast for the characters we have met or mentioned so far...

Peter Parker / Spider-Man... Dylan O'Brien

Gwen Stacy... Chloe Grace Moretz

Hannah Morgenstern (OC)... Elise Bauman

Terri Kidder... Karla Souza

J. Jonah Jameson... Peter Capaldi

Who is your dream cast for Spider-Man? Thanks again for reading. Please comment with any feedback!


End file.
